Developing, fostering, and enriching young children's STEM related working theories: Mediating influences and models

Abstract

The early years is a critical time for learning. During this time, the development of knowledge, skills, and attitudes provide foundations for a lifetime of learning. Knowledge, skills, and attitudes combine to form working theories, a notion that is central to this thesis, and which originated in early childhood education in Aotearoa New Zealand. Working theories are children’s tentative and evolving ideas and understandings about the world, and are a key outcome of the New Zealand early childhood curriculum Te Whāriki. Understanding how children develop working theories, and teachers’ roles in that development is therefore essential. This thesis aimed to investigate the development of working theories about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and the associated teaching approaches that fostered and enriched that development. Two original and innovative models were created to explain the findings of this thesis: the spiral of working theory development which represents how children developed their working theories; and the shared learning commitment model which represents how teachers fostered and enriched that development. This interpretivist, qualitative study drew on ethnographic approaches to investigate the case: young children’s developing working theories. Data were generated during seven months of field work in two early childhood education centres in Auckland, New Zealand through participant observations, semi-structured interviews with teachers, and by recording centre documentation. Data were analysed using thematic analysis and with the two models used as dynamic, interpretive frameworks. The models were developed and refined through the complex and iterative process of melding literature, theory, data and findings. This thesis argues that the sociocultural notion of mediation is critical to working theory development. First, teachers’ knowledge, skills and attitudes toward STEM mediate their involvement in STEM related teaching and learning experiences. Second, working theories act as a framework through which new information is passed. Therefore, working theories can be viewed as mediators of new information. Third, teachers’ understandings of concepts and children mediate their involvement in teaching and learning about STEM. This thesis therefore offers new and innovative insights and understandings into working theory development and associated teaching approaches that hold important implications both for teachers and for further research that could transform children’s learning.